Lenovo RD430 - Manual (Page 84)

Configuring RAID using the ThinkServer EasyStartup program
The ThinkServer EasyStartup program simplifies the process of configuring supported RAID and installing
supported Windows and Linux operating systems and device drivers on your server. The user guide for the
program can be accessed directly from the program interface.
The ThinkServer EasyStartup program has the following features for RAID configuration:
• For use with all supported RAID controllers
• Automatically detects hardware and lists all supported RAID configurations
• Configures one or more disk arrays per controller depending on the number of drives attached to the
controller and the RAID level selected
• Supports hot-spare drives
• Creates a RAID response file that can be used to configure RAID controllers on similarly configured
Lenovo servers
See “Using the ThinkServer EasyStartup program” on page 67 and view the user guide from the main
interface of the program.
Some RAID management software also is provided on the ThinkServer EasyStartup DVD to help you manage
RAID arrays and RAID controllers in an operating system environment. After you enter the operating system,
insert the ThinkServer EasyStartup DVD into the optical drive. The installation packages for the programs
are located in the Utilities and Others folder in the root directory of the DVD. The ThinkServer EasyStartup
DVD is designed for different types of servers and the Utilities and Others folder might contain additional
installation packages that are not required to be installed on your server.
Configuring the ThinkServer RAID 300
The ThinkServer RAID 300 (also known as onboard SAS software RAID) is integrated in the PCH on
the system board. If you connect the mini-SAS to mini-SAS signal cables from the system board to the
backplane, you can configure RAID for the hard disk drives using the LSI Software RAID Configuration Utility
program, independently of the operating system. The ThinkServer RAID 300 supports RAID levels 0, 1, and
10 by default. You also can activate RAID 5 by installing a ThinkServer RAID 300 Upgrade Key for Advanced
RAID. See “Installing or removing the ThinkServer RAID 300 Upgrade Key for Advanced RAID” on page 119.
You can install and use the MegaRAID Storage Manager program to manage the RAID array and RAID
controller in an operating system environment.
Before configuring RAID for your server, observe the following precautions:
• Use hard disk drives that are of the same type (SATA or SAS) and have the same capacity within a
single RAID array.
• The total drive capacity of the primary RAID array might be limited to 2 TB.
RAID array status
When you turn on the server, the RAID controller ROM version, the RAID array status, and the list of the
available hard disk drives will be displayed during the POST.
The RAID array status can be one of the following:
• Online
This is the normal status, which indicates that the RAID array is working correctly.
• Degrade
72 ThinkServer RD430 User Guide